The Cons of Perfection
by wizardofahz
Summary: Being the corn-fed valedictorian with the soccer scholarship and size zero waist didn't make JJ a mean girl. In fact, it made her rather miserable.


Disclaimer: I only own my imagination. Nothing more, nothing less.

A/N: This is my take on the "was JJ a mean girl?" concept.

The next chapter of "Subterfuge" will be up on… in… umm… I'm working on it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this!

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><p>JJ sat with her soccer teammates Marissa and Megan as they waited for their history class to begin. They chatted about the previous weekend's game against North Mammon as they waited for the bell and subsequent start of class. Laughing, she was about to mimic the North Mammon goalie's expression after she'd scored her second goal when she felt the corners of several hard-back textbooks impact the back of her head.<p>

"Oops, didn't see you there."

It had become almost routine for Christina – the head of the cheerleading squad – to hassle JJ. With her slim figure and natural beauty, JJ was something of an unintentional boy magnet. She never threw herself at the boys, but her quiet charm and good looks made them look her way anyway. Despite all Christina's attempts, boys never flocked to her, and that made her utterly nasty whenever JJ was around. She was particularly fond of "accidentally" bumping into JJ as hard as she could and joking that it was impossible to see someone who was size 0.

"You should really add 'blind as a bat' to your list of personal failings," JJ muttered, as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What did you just say?"

JJ was about to fire back with a sarcastic retort – this time about Christina's hearing – but the teacher interrupted.

"Jennifer, is there a problem?" Mrs. Temple – their history teacher who just happened to also be Christina's mother – asked.

"No, ma'am," JJ ground out through tightly clenched teeth.

As the bell rang, Mrs. Temple began class, which passed without incident.

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><p>"Come on, Nerd King. Try a little. Live the good life."<p>

Kurt McBride was engaged in one of his favorite lunchtime activities: pestering the awkward nerd.

"N-no," Bryce stuttered, as Kurt and his cronies closed in on him. "I don't want to."

"I don't want to," Kurt mimicked mockingly with a high-pitched whiny voice and grinned in triumph when his friends laughed. "It's just a little bit of pot. It won't hurt you."

"Leave him alone."

Kurt turned to see Jennifer Jareau and what appeared to be a third of the girls' soccer team approaching, and he said disdainfully, "All hail the Nerd Queen."

JJ rolled her eyes at him then turned to Bryce and said kindly, "Hey, Bryce. You wanna come help me with those kinematics equations?"

Bryce looked between the two groups before quickly making his way over to JJ's side.

"Maybe you should try some, Nerd Queen," Kurt drawled. "Learn to relax, or you'll end up like your pathetic excuse of a sister. She was on track to being valedictorian too, wasn't she?"

JJ's face hardened.

"Jen!" Daisy grabbed JJ by the hood as she flew forward to pull her away. "Leave it alone, Jen. He's not worth it."

Kurt smirked as JJ backed off.

Unwilling to let Kurt's crack about her sister go unpunished, JJ eyed a reasonably sized rock and kicked it at him. It was her turn to smirk as she watched him double over as it hit his family jewels.

"You all right?" she directed at Bryce as their group began to walk away from Kurt's.

"Yeah. Thanks," he replied, relief evident in his voice. "You don't really need help with physics, do you?"

"Meh," JJ said with a shrug. "I'll figure it out."

"Speak for yourself," Daisy muttered.

"I could help you," Bryce said shyly. He had never talked to Daisy before, but she was a friend of JJ's, and she seemed nice.

"Really?" Daisy asked sincerely. "No offense, Jen, but you kinda suck with physics help."

"None taken." JJ laughed.

She spent the rest of lunch watching Daisy swear like a sailor and Bryce flush crimson every time Daisy looked at him.

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><p>"I gotta grab something from my locker," JJ said as she left her last class with Daisy and Marissa. "I'll meet you guys on the field."<p>

Normally, JJ had all her things ready by lunchtime, so that after class, she could be the first one on the field. Today, however, their literature teacher had thrown them a curveball of an assignment, and JJ needed some extra references.

"You sure?" Daisy asked. "We don't mind going with you."

Marissa nodded her agreement.

"Nah," JJ said. "I just have to grab a book or two. Get out on the field first and start the others on laps. Captain's orders."

Marissa groaned in protest.

"I'm serious," JJ continued on. "I want them ready for suici– sprint drills when I get there."

Daisy noticed JJ's word avoidance but ignored it as she knew JJ would want her to. "Aye-aye, Captain. See you on the field," she said and proceeded to drag a reluctant Marissa to the locker room.

JJ smirked as she watched Daisy pull Marissa along. Then she headed to her locker and made a mental checklist on what to grab. Upon opening her locker, she sighed at the mess that it was and rummaged around to find the things she needed. As she found the last notebook, she closed the locker door and reminded herself – for what felt like the thousandth time – that she should get around to organizing the dang thing.

"Hey there, Jareau."

JJ spun and found her face inches from Adam's chest. She instinctively tried to step back, but her back quickly collided with the lockers.

Adam Stonerook was the quarterback and star of the East Allegheny High School football team. Utterly handsome and equally as obnoxious, Adam was a huge flirt, and he was accustomed to reciprocation. JJ, however, had a fondness for shutting him down.

"How you doing, lovely?" Adam asked as he leered down at her.

"Get out of my face," JJ said and tried to side step around him.

Adam matched her step with one of his own. "Aww, come on, Jareau. Spend a little time with me."

As one of the few girls that wouldn't humor him, JJ was a challenge – one that he gladly accepted. The "courting" had become a game to him, and the prospective prize was the hot soccer captain. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

With all the crap she had taken that day, JJ felt ready to snap. She took a deep breath and said as calmly as she could, "I mean it, Stonerook. Get out of my face."

He placed one hand on either side of her head and leaned his face closer to hers. "Or what?"

JJ's right foot shot out, kicking his left shin. As he retracted in pain, she ducked under one arm and pushed him face first into the locker bank.

"You bitch!" Adam snarled, clutching his nose, which was bleeding and clearly broken. He began to advance on JJ, who was ready to run.

"Jareau!"

JJ turned to see the football coach Ben Geringer approaching.

"In my office. Now." As JJ began to walk towards his office, Coach Geringer added, "Stonerook, go to the nurse's office and get your nose fixed."

As Geringer and JJ sat in his office, Geringer waited for JJ to justify her behavior, but she did nothing more than sit silently and stare at the front of his desk.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

JJ shrugged. The way she figured it, she was sitting in front of the football coach after breaking the star quarterback's nose. She was screwed no matter what she said.

"All right, let me take a guess. Stonerook was being obnoxious. He got too close for too long, and you were defending yourself." Her eyes finally met his, and her jaw dropped slightly in shock. He smirked at her reaction. "I may need him for the team, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to what an ass he is."

JJ's eyebrows rose at his blunt phrasing.

"So what's my punishment?"

"The good news is that he can still play with a broken nose. It's not optimal, but he can still play…" Geringer paused for dramatic effect (and to watch her squirm). "So I'm thinking about letting you off scot-free."

JJ stared. It seemed the surprises were never-ending.

"Seriously?"

"You're a good kid. You had a reason for doing what you did."

Not wanting to be punished, but still feeling terribly off-footed, JJ said, "I still did something wrong."

"Look, Jareau. You're important to my brother." His brother Jason was the girls' soccer coach. "You're important to your team. And it's your last year. I heard Pittsburgh University has taken an interest you. I assume you'll ride the year out, and then you're on your way out of here."

"That's the plan, sir."

"Well, good luck with it," Geringer said sincerely.

"Thank you," JJ replied with matching sincerity.

"Now get yourself to the soccer field. I'm sure my brother's wondering what happened to you."

JJ nodded and sped out of his office.

Sometimes life wasn't so bad after all.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading!<em>


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